Help with cassia stained hair

**FrannyG** · October 6th, 2008, 02:58 PM

I've really missed using cassia since I've gone back to light blonde. My hair was just not feeling good and I decided to give myself a cassia treatment.

Knowing that I didn't want any dye release, I simply mixed the cassia and applied it. I left it on for an hour.

My hair feels great, but here's my problem. The length of my hair from where I dyed the hair blond after I'd been brown is more porous, of course, and damaged. That hair really grabbed the yellow colour of the cassia and has changed the colour from a light neutral blonde to an almost strawberry blonde.

Strawberry blonde, while lovely on some people, completely clashes with my skin tone. It really looks ghastly.

Does anyone have any experience with removing cassia stain from light blonde or processed hair?

**mira-chan** · October 6th, 2008, 03:11 PM

Oil can leech henna color and other dyes, so maybe it can do the same to the cassia stain.

**FrannyG** · October 6th, 2008, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by mira-chan

Oil can leech henna color and other dyes, so maybe it can do the same to the cassia stain.

I did a 12 hour heavy EVOO soak yesterday, and it didn't budge. Not even a little. I'm getting worried.

**Silver & Gold** · October 6th, 2008, 03:28 PM

I'm struggling with the same problem which is why I quit using cassia.

If you find something that works for you would you let me know?

I've tried honey lightening with 1 part honey (by weight) to 4 parts distilled water and if it helped it was hard to tell.

I've tried heavy oiling before I wash and if it helped it was too subtle to be sure. (I've only oiled with coconut oil so another oil could still do the trick. I just don't know what it would be.)

The only thing that may be helping, and I'm not quite certain just yet, is CV bars to shampoo. I've tried clarifying shampoos and again, nothing.

It's supposed to wash out but it's been months since I did mine and it's still way too 'golden' in the porous parts of my processed hair and even the virgin hair is still holding some color. I guess some of us have hair that really grips that cassia color.

**spidermom** · October 6th, 2008, 03:28 PM

I've been told that cassia fades out over time, so maybe keep your hair back and up and watch for fade. (I hope)

**ktani** · October 6th, 2008, 03:29 PM

Honey lightening with ground cinnamon, has been reported to reduce brassiness and lighten unwanted red/gold tones, on blonde hair, even before the new dilution. With the new dilution, the recipe used by firebird, would require 12 tablespoons of distilled water, not 8.

firebird - honey lightening on a cassia treatment that had darkened her previously dyed hair adding a red/gold tone - she used ground cinnamon and EVOO, no conditioner
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...&postcount=489

You can leave the cassia out of the mix (it was added for conditioning only), and increase the water amount to the new dilution. The new dilution has been reported to work even better than the recipe here, which was the previous dilution.

**FrannyG** · October 6th, 2008, 04:51 PM

Thank you for your replies.

Yes, Spidermom, cassia does generally fade in time, but more than half of my hair is so porous that I think I'm stuck if I don't find a solution.

Thank you Ktani, for your information. I'll give it a go, and let you know how it works out. I'll be sure to let you know too, Silver & Gold.

It's a shame, because I love my cassia!

**Silver & Gold** · October 6th, 2008, 04:56 PM

I'm going to try the honey with boosters the next time I get a chance to do the honey thing.

I'll let you know how it goes for me, Franny. Good luck to us both!

**ktani** · October 6th, 2008, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by FrannyG

Thank you for your replies.

Yes, Spidermom, cassia does generally fade in time, but more than half of my hair is so porous that I think I'm stuck if I don't find a solution.

Thank you Ktani, for your information. I'll give it a go, and let you know how it works out. I'll be sure to let you know too, Silver & Gold.

It's a shame, because I love my cassia!

You are most welcome.

If you want to use cassia in a honey lightening treatment for conditioning, the key is to mix it only with a bit of distilled water (you can use part of the 6 oz, not extra distilled water), just before adding it to the recipe and looking at the treatment as honey lightening with cassia, not a cassia treatment with honey. You use less cassia and not let it sit for any time to dye release.

It worked for morgyn too, without adding colour. I would still increase the distilled water to 6 oz or 12 tablespoons.

morgwn - on virgin hair with cassia - after using firebird's new honey lightening recipe with cassia, ground cinnamon and EVOO - no conditioner
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=1097

morgwn - on the condition of her hair following honey lightening with cassia
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...postcount=1101

**ktani** · October 6th, 2008, 05:41 PM

When firebird first reported that her hair had darkened, with a red/gold tone, ground cinnamon was suspected. However that did not make sense to me, given her previous honey lightening results with ground cinnamon. It turns out, that she was doing cassia treatments, in between honey lightening treatments. So I researched cassia, knowing that it had a reported history of leaving blonde hair brassy.

"Senna or senna leaves are actually .... dried leaflets of two species of Cassia: C. senna L., known as Alexandria senna, and C. angustifolia Vahl .... Both plants .... small shrubs of the family Caesalpiniaceae. The former species grows along the Nile in Egypt and Sudan .... latter .... cultivated in southern and eastern India. Some authorities now consider both plants as belonging to a single species, Senna alexandrina Mill.; however .... distinct morphologic and histologic differences between the two species, so this revision .... not widely accepted by pharmacognosists."
http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_senna.htm

Cassia Chemistry
".... Other constituents in senna include chrysophanic acid, salicylic acid, saponin, resin, mannitol .... and trace amounts of volatile oil."
http://www.drugs.com/npp/senna.html

Chrysophanic acid - "yellow-orange powder"
http://www.carlroth.be/catalogue/cat...nl-nl&catId=NL

"Chrysophanic acid (sodium hydroxide fraction) ... shows orange-red with sulphuric acid, yellow with nitric acid, and a yellow .....on dilution." See "290"
http://www.rsc.org/delivery/_Article...JournalCode=AN

According to this link, in pure form, chrysophanic acid, is golden yellow, and there is more detail about it changing colour in different solutions. See "Description"
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/ecle...idum-chry.html

Cassia senna or cassia obovata and its immediate relative, are pH sensitive. They will yield different colours in different solutions. That is why they can yield brassy or red or yellow tones.

That is also why, when mixed with enough distilled water at pH 7, they yield no appreciable colour.